some things are better off broken
by adventurtle
Summary: [calypso/leo, short oneshot, for the capture the flag competition] In which the astrolabe is as useless as it seems, Calypso is the best thing that's ever happened to him and Leo just doesn't understand.


**_some things are better off broken_**

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_Written for the Capture the flag competition, round 3, with the prompt: confused._

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Leo's been an irritated, sensitive, messy jumble of emotions ever since the end of the Giant war.

He spends most of his time in Bunker 9 trying to get Calypso back, and when he's not working on that he's fixing the Argo II, and when he's not doing that he's fulfilling his head of cabin duties, and when he's not doing that he's eating. He barely has time to sleep anymore.

And the worst in all this is that, for the life of him, he can't figure out how to use the astrolabe. He's asked everyone he can for help; Annabeth, Chiron, Jake, even Reyna, but it's always one step forward, two steps back.

The astrolabe is an odd, flat, circular thing with lots of patterns and circles on the front and he hasn't got the slightest idea of how to use it.

He stays in the bunker for days, poring over old books, taking the astrolabe apart and then putting it back together again, everything he can think of, but nothing works, and he's starting to get lines where his brows scrunch together over his tired, sleep-deprived eyes.

One week, he goes three days straight without sleep.

In the end, he breaks the astrolabe in half, passes out and sleeps for eighteen hours.

When he wakes , it's the middle of the night and all he can see if the broken pieces of the astrolabe scattered all over the floor and, in the back of his mind, he knows he can't fix it, but he tries anyway, he tries for a whole week until he realizes it's not going to happen and breaks down in tears.

After that, he doesn't move from his bed.

It takes him weeks to get back to normal - well, not normal, but better than he was. He acts fine, plasters a fake smile across his face, but whenever someone mentions Calypso he'll just break down.

After a couple of months, he manages to go back to Bunker 9 and try to fix the astrolabe again. He finally manages to get it to stick together, but somehow it just doesn't feel the same, like it's lost all of its power and energy. It's slightly scary and very depressing, and Leo's about to give up once again when the entrance to the bunker slides open with a loud rattling, creaking noise.

He really needs to figure out a way to make it open smoother, he thinks in the back of his mind as he turns around to squint against the bright light of the sun outside to find out who is brave enough to disrupt him.

When he finally figures who it is, he almost passes out.

It's Calypso, looking exactly the same as she did when he left. She's wearing faded blue jeans and a plain white t-shirt, her hair is pulled up in a loose, messy ponytail and her hands and bare feet are slightly muddied.

There's a radiant smile on her face, but Leo can't return it.

His head is just a jumbled mess of emotions, from happiness to denial and he just doesn't understand what's happening.

The last thing he sees before his vision goes black is Calypso's smile slowly turning into a frown.

* * *

The first thing Leo sees when he wakes up is Calypso leaning over him, pressing a cloth soaked in cold water to his forehead, it feels heavenly, and even though he has a bunch of feelings he doesn't really understand clawing at his chest, he smiles.

She notices, and smiles back at him, pulling away with the wet cloth to place it on his bedside table. Then, with another smile that looks more like a smirk, she leans forward and gently, ever so gently, kisses him. It's just a chaste brush of the lips, but by the time she pulls away he's bright red and there's smoke coming out of his ears.

Calypso's grin just widens as she leans in and presses her lips to his again, harder this time, with more determination, like there's a purpose behind it this time.

And Leo still doesn't understand, and he's still a complete mess, but as long as he's with her, it doesn't matter.

**_fin_**

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_Ugh so cheesy._

_At least try to find it in your hearts to forgive me as this is for a competition and is due tomorrow so I really needed to get it done. I wrote this in under an hour so please, be nice._


End file.
